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Trump accuses Clintons of ‘corruption,’ Michelle Obama boosts Hillary

"Just imagine what they'll do in the Oval Office," said Donald Trump as he citied emails from the campaign chairman’s personal account showing overlapping relationships between the Clinton Foundation and the family’s private gains.

WASHINGTON—Seeking to lash Hillary Clinton to her husband’s sprawling post-presidential empire, Donald Trump accused the couple of turning to corruption to enrich themselves while in public service. Michelle Obama boosted Clinton at a North Carolina rally, meanwhile, as the candidate cheered her on.

On Thursday, the GOP nominee cited newly released emails from her campaign chairman’s personal account showing Doug Band, a former Bill Clinton aide, describing overlapping relationships between the Clinton Foundation and the family’s private gains.

“Mr. Band called the arrangement ‘unorthodox.’ The rest of us call it outright corrupt,” said Trump at the first of three campaign rallies in Ohio. “If the Clintons were willing to play this fast and loose with their enterprise when they weren’t in the White House, just imagine what they’ll do in the Oval Office.”

Band wrote the 2011 memo to defend his firm, Teneo, describing how he encouraged his clients to contribute to the foundation and get consulting and speaking gigs for Bill Clinton. Some of his work included obtaining “in-kind services for the president and his family — for personal travel, hospitality, vacation and the like.”

The message was released by WikiLeaks after a hack by others of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s private email account.

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“I think we’ve had enough of the Clintons, in all fairness,” Trump said. “Don’t you think?”

Band called the business, “Bill Clinton Inc.” — a term Trump referenced to paint the family as using their public profiles for personal gain, a line of attack Republicans have long tried.

The hacked emails, as well as recent news of an “Obamacare” premium hike, have appeared to hand Trump a pair of potent gifts in the campaign’s final fortnight. But to the frustration of many in his party, Trump has struggled to stay on message, often turning to personal attacks against private citizens who he feels have wronged him, like the Gold Star family of Captain Humayun Khan, a Muslim-American soldier killed in action. On Thursday morning, Trump told ABC News that had he been president during the Iraq War, Khan would still be alive.

“Honestly, I don’t understand how anyone would want to rub salt in the wounds of a grieving family,” Clinton told thousands of supporters in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where she was campaigning with Michelle Obama, marking the first joint appearance for the two first ladies on the campaign trail. Mrs. Obama’s emotional take-downs of Trump have become a key part of Clinton’s effort to fire up women, particularly black women for whom the first lady is a model and a source of pride.

Mrs. Obama offered an impassioned tribute to Clinton, praising her as the most prepared candidate for the presidency ever, adding: “Yes, more than Barack, more than Bill.”

The women were unveiling a new $500 million (U.S.) policy plan aimed at reducing bullying. The Clinton campaign said her policy would provide funding to states that develop comprehensive anti-bullying efforts. It would be paid for through Clinton’s proposed tax increases on the wealthy.

Mrs. Obama also accused Trump’s campaign of trying to depress voter turnout by deriding the election as “rigged.” She told supporters that presidential races are decided on a “razor’s edge.”

“If Hillary doesn’t win this election, that will be on us,” she said.

With a steady lead in the race for weeks, Clinton’s campaign is concerned that her advantage could prompt some of her backers to stay home on Election Day or cast protest votes for a third-party candidate.

A new Associated Press-GfK poll released Wednesday found Clinton on the cusp of a potentially commanding victory, fuelled by solid Democratic turnout in early voting, massive operational advantages and increasing enthusiasm among her supporters.

The survey shows her leading Trump nationally by a staggering 14 percentage points among likely voters, 51-37. That margin is the largest national lead for Clinton among recent surveys. But other polls generally have shown her ahead of Trump for the past several weeks.

The presidential candidates and dozens of outside groups involved in the race are also due to file their final major fundraising reports before Election Day. These documents will show fundraising and spending between Oct. 1 and Oct. 19 — giving a sense of what resources each side had available as the campaign entered its frantic final stretch.

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